Prostate cancer pair shows others the way

Malcolm Topliss and Theo Beudel are doing their bit to help garner support for prostate cancer campaign, Blue September.

Relevant offers

Next month Malcolm Topliss is going under the knife.

A year ago, Theo Beudel did the same thing.

Though one is a chief executive and the other a workshop manager, they share something in common – prostate cancer.

"As soon as you say the c-word, it's always scary," said Mr Beudel, who had his prostate removed last year. "But when you go through it and come out the other end, it's not so bad."

Work colleagues at Nelmac showed support on Friday for the pair, and the one in 10 men in New Zealand who will be diagnosed with the cancer. Each year almost 600 men die of it.

Blue September is about getting the word out, raising money to support ongoing awareness, research and support for sufferers.

"We are supporting the cause," said Mr Topliss. "It's close to home for a couple of us."

Mr Topliss was diagnosed last year.

"It was a shock to the system at the time, but I thought it was still something I could take an `active surveillance' approach to."

His last checkup showed the cancer had not slowed.

"It indicated I needed to do something."

This included, along with surgery, raising awareness among the 130 male staff he looks after.

"Prostate cancer is a blokes thing, so this is really relevant."

Mr Beudel's message was that a checkup was not a big deal.

Prostate Cancer Foundation chief executive Keith Beck said the frustrating thing was that deaths from the illness could be halved by early detection.

"Because symptoms of the disease do not usually show until further down the track, most men don't know they have it. We could prevent a lot of these deaths if all men over 40 visited their doctor more regularly."

- © Fairfax NZ News